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Tens of thousands of Victorians participated in the Melbourne Marathon – and our photographers snapped over 900 pictures. Did they capture you?
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A Kenyan runner broke a course record that had stood for nearly a decade as more than 34,000 runners took to sunny streets for the Melbourne Marathon Festival on Sunday.
However, Adelaide runner Izzi Batt-Doyle stole the show by clocking the fastest Australian debut marathon time in history.
In its 44th year, the festival is recognised as Australia’s largest marathon.
Kenyan runner Timothy Ronoh, 29, won the men’s marathon and broke the course record with his time of two hours, nine minutes and 12 seconds, smashing the 2013 record by more than a minute.
Stunningly, Sunday was only the third marathon the 29-year-old has run.
By breaking the record, the “very happy” Ronoh doubled his winnings to take home $40,000 in prizemoney.
“It was good running the streets of Melbourne,” he said.
When asked if he would return to defend his title, Ronoh replied: “Of course, I’ll come back.”
His fellow Kenyan runner Beatrice Cheptoo won the women’s marathon but was three minutes outside the course record.
Batt-Doyle, 26, finished only 12 seconds behind Cheptoo and said she was “over the moon”.
“I can’t believe how good I feel,” Batt-Doyle said.
“Coming into the ’G, I couldn’t believe how close I was to first place.”
The 26-year-old competed in the 5000m at the Tokyo Olympics but had never tackled a marathon before.
“At about 40km, I was still feeling good and I started to cry, I couldn’t believe I was going to finish the marathon,” she said.
“I’m just so thrilled that I’m the fastest Australian (marathoner) on debut.”
Event director Marcus Gale said the weather was “perfect for spectators, perfect for runners and perfect for the elites”, with international runners welcomed back into the fold for the first time since 2019.
“It’s great to have the event back the way it should be,” Mr Gale said.
The festival had to be split across two days last year due to Covid, with spectators zoned and participants separated from their supporters.
“There was a lot of red tape,” he said.
“But last week we saw 100,000 people here watching the Grand Final, we will have 80,000 rolling through here today … and in a few weeks’ time we’ll see the cricket World Cup here.
“I think Melbourne’s back.”
Australian Olympian Steve Moneghetti, who recently turned 60, finished 40th in the men’s half marathon.
“There’s really good support out on the course,” Moneghetti said.
“It was terrific to see so many people out just cheering the runners on.
“I love seeing the human wave of people coming through in the different events … each with their own story who have travelled the roads of Melbourne and then finished on this iconic venue.”
Runners started at Batman Ave and finished with a lap of the MCG, regardless of whether they tackled the 42km marathon, 21km half marathon, 10km run, 5km run or 3km walk.
They raised more than $1.1m for almost 250 charities and causes, including the festival’s official charity partner the Cerebral Palsy Education Centre.
The Melbourne Marathon Festival will return to the MCG on October 15, 2023.
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